RV Travel Reader RVs, August 13, 2016

Send a photo of your RV and a 150- to 200-word description of it, how and where you use it, and what you like or don’t like about it, to Diane(at)RVtravel.com. Be sure to include your name(s) and hometown, or if you’re a full-timer. (These are posted in the order received.)

The RVs of RVtravel.com readers and how they use them

Issue 60; Posted August 13, 2016

From Bob and Susan Ruzzamenti, Riverside, California

We purchased this gently used 2006 Fleetwood Prowler Lynx 5th wheel in January, 2015. It is 29 feet long and has one big slide-out. We currently tow it with a 2006 Ford F350 diesel dually.

We are newbies as this is our first big RV (we had a truck camper once). We were having a blast camping in it as the 5th wheel was so much more comfortable than the tent camping we have done for the past 35 years. So, for the first six months we owned it, we had no problems and went camping one or two times per month and enjoyed every minute. Then, all of a sudden, every major system started to fail. EVERY trip was marred by something big breaking. Thank goodness my husband is a “fix-it” kind of guy and could buy parts and use his own labor or we would have doubled the $4,000 we have put into it the last year. Going forward, I’m hoping nothing else will break and we can go back to thoroughly enjoying our camping trips.

We prefer to boondock on BLM land or camp in local and national campgrounds instead of RV parks, as they tend to be roomier and prettier. However, we have stayed numerous times in RV parks and had a great time meeting new people — and plugging in to electricity is a very good thing! We live in California and there are so many wonderful places to camp here. We have also towed our trailer to campsites in Utah and Arizona. We will be moving out of state next year and plan on living in the trailer for five to six months while we build a house. That should be an adventure, as the longest trip we have taken was only nine days!

The picture is of our rig at the Hurkey Creek Campground near Idyllwild, California.

While we would love some of the modern amenities newer rigs have, ours is solid and reliable. We take it on three or four week-long trips and a month-long cross-country trip each year. We bought it barely used (17,000 miles) in 2013. There is only one thing I hate — that awful upholstery fabric! We’ve put in all new floors and will tackle fabrics next.

We love to travel to Emerald Isle, North Carolina, with our granddaughters each summer. We also love the Hilton Head Island Motor Coach resort for relaxing getaways. Our favorite trips have been out West. Last summer we visited Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Sequoia, Yosemite, Joshua Tree and Grand Canyon national parks on a three-week odyssey. We take off next week for a month visiting the South Dakota Badlands, Devils Tower, Glacier NP, then into western Canada to see Jasper, Banff, etc.

From JB and Judy, Elgin, South Carolina

We have a 2006 Monaco Dynasty and just finished a 16,000-mile trip to Alaska and all parts in between. We are towing my 2000 Silverado with a motorcycle on it.

The only trouble we have had towing is when I need to turn around, and sometimes with that combined length we have trouble finding a campsite or a pull-off. We like most everything about our Monaco; the half-bath comes in handy a lot. Love the diesel pusher because we had a gas model before and could not talk because of engine noise. Love having all the room when we camp. Also we love meeting all the really nice people.

The dislikes are mostly to do with systems used on the coach that are no longer in business. Had to upgrade the coach monitoring system to the SilverLeaf because Aladdin was out of business. I will say this: After looking at a lot of new models, including the new Dynasty, we will stick with our 10-year-old model.

We do plan on traveling more. Being newly retired helps in our travel plans. We’re working on our next trip now. Didn’t get to see everything out West and haven’t even been to the Northeast area yet. Plus we want to take our grandkids with us more. I would like to travel three or four trips a year, of about a month to a month-and-a-half in length. There is so much beautiful country in the U.S. and in Canada. Cannot wait to get on the road again. Love being retired!

2 thoughts on “RV Travel Reader RVs, August 13, 2016”

We will be going on our first RV adventure in 2 weeks ( will give you an update) We have 2 dogs and 1 very old dog (this is his bucket list) so I can’t wait. My husband never camped but I have. I have been bringing the dogs in the RV when I am setting up to get them use to it so far they love it.
For our first trip we are only going 1 1/2 hours away to get everyone use to it. Its a travel trailer so my husband has to get use to driving it. We are going for a test drive tomorrow. I am nervous and will have my eyes closed the whole time. Love your site and all of your info its been helping us out. Well will update you after our trip.

Thanks, Jacquelyn. Good luck on your RV adventure. How about sending us a “story” of your RVing dogs after your trip and we’ll publish it in our Reader Pets feature — if you want. Send it to me at diane (at) rvtravel.com . I hope all of you, especially your senior dog, have a wonderful time camping. 😀 Diane

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